The Latest on Jay Bruce, Melvin Upton, Rich Hill & Other Trade Pieces

It’s that time of the baseball year where trade rumors start ramping up full force. Though many teams have yet to declare themselves as either “buyers” or “sellers” it is becoming quite obvious where certain teams lie (we all know the Yanks are sellers, even though they keep clutching their false hope)

So let’s take a look at the latest trade rumors and speculation floating around the baseball world.

San Diego Padres’ Melvin Upton keeps coming up big and keeps fanning the flames of his trade rumors. San Diego still owes Upton a little under $40M through the 2017 season, but teams are now willing to give up talent all depending on how much of Upton’s remaining salary the Padres are willing to take on.

There are also rumors that San Diego would be willing to part with Matt Kemp as well.

There continues to be talk that the Toronto Blue Jays are very interested in acquiring Cincinnati Reds’ Jay Bruce. The move makes sense as it would allow the Jays to move Jose Bautista to DH. It also allows Toronto to reduce Juston Smoak’s playing time, which considering the way Smoak has played, would be beneficial.

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig is also rumored to be available.

The New York Mets, who are in desperate need of starting pitching after the injuries to Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard could be one of several teams that pick up the phone to call the New York Yankees about CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda and/or Ivan Nova.

Anthony DiMoro is the creator of Sports Rants and the CEO of Elite Rank Media. Anthony DiMoro is a Contributor for 'Forbes' where he talks Sports, SEO, Social Media and Internet Marketing. Anthony also hosts the 'Forbes SportsMoney Podcast' and is a Contributor to the Huffington Post where he covers sports